HARANYA part 1: Harani (eng) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3: Mahadevi

The furtive footsteps of the two leomorphs could barely be heard on the damp grass on this clear night. They trotted at a brisk pace, in the shade as much as possible. Although the black was easily unnoticed, the white hair of its fellow leomorph reflected the moonlight and seemed even more shiny than in the middle of the day.

Satsu suddenly pulled on Chum's necklace, her black leomorph, stopping him in his frantic race. Leonidas, Mynthiao's white leomorph, hit him head-on, having had absolutely no time to react, just like his rider. The two animals grunted, both frustrated at having to stop in this way, and in their incomprehension of the behaviour of the two Haranis.

"Satsu, what's going on?" whispered Mynthiao, who didn't understand her friend's behaviour any more than their mounts did.

- "Look down" replied the interested party.

The girl did so, before widening her eyes. The path on which they were standing went down steeply, and lost itself in the green of the trees below. Trees as far as the eye could see. And, as Mynthiao had noticed, nothing looks more like a tree than another tree. This new change of landscape left her perplexed. They were exactly on the border between Tigerspine and Mahadevi.

"We're going to get lost..." she finally whispered.

- "Let's keep following the path, as Bramani told us. We'll eventually find the Poacher's Watch."

They restarted moving and walked down the path through the jungle, which definitely earnt its jungle name. There were so many trees that it was no longer possible to see the sky. Some plants covered part of the path, and the roots protruded in places, making traffic difficult. Leonidas, Mynthiao's white leomorph, stumbled several times, narrowly missing his rider. They thus progressed through the jungle for more than half an hour, before seeing a campfire.

"It must be the Poacher's Watch!" said Mynthiao, relieved to have finally found their destination.

- "No, wait!" her comrade held her back, not so sure. "Bramani told us to follow the path. Now this campfire would take us away from it. I'd rather follow the directions we've been given word to word, we don't know the area at all and it will be easier to come across the wrong people than the right ones!"

Mynthiao lowered her head. Once again she could have fallen headfirst into a trap. She realised how lucky she had been to run into Satsu before she left; her help was invaluable to her, and has certainly already saved her life several times since the beginning of their quest. If Mynthiao was a hothead who ran into the heap, Satsu was much more composed and thoughtful. Mynthiao hoped that with time, her friend's influence would have an impact on her, and she would be able to make better decisions in the future.

The two girls continued along the path and after another fifteen minutes of walking, they saw a camp set up on either side of the path they were following. Large, sturdy square tents with a domed top were set up. Petrol lamps were lit, as well as a campfire. A few people were sitting around, chatting, drinking or eating. Others stood in front of the tents talking, and turned around as the girls passed by. Some wore the costume of the Shadowhawks. They looked at the girls with a curious, almost suspicious eye as they entered the camp. A man, presumably part of the Shadowhawks, approached them.

"Hello, ladies. What are you doing here at this hour?"

- "We're looking for Atashamin," Mynthiao announced at once, without thinking again. Satsu glanced at her blackly.

- "Atash'" the man turned around. "They're asking for you."

A rather attractive dark-haired man came out of a tent and briefly observed the girls.

"Satsu and Mynthiao, right? Show me the mark of Bramani."

The girls exchanged glances, and Satsu finally took the object out of her pocket. Atashamin grabbed it and looked at it. A tender smile lit up his face and he squeezed the mark before hanging it on his belt.

"The beautiful Bramani had warned me of your arrival. Her mail owl has just left. Jim! Come and look after their leomorphs for the night. Feed them well and give them water. You two, come with me."

The young man returned to his tent, escorting the two newcomers. He made them sit on soft embroidered cushions. He then served them a small glass of liquor with a smile on his face.

"Welcome to Mahadevi! It's rare to see new recruits around here. So, what news do you bring from the Tigerspine Mountains?"

- "Not very good" Satsu admitted.

- "That bad?" asked Atashamin, whose smile faded. "Tell me what happened."

Mynthiao and Satsu told him about the recent events that had taken place during the night. Atashamin listened to them attentively, without ever interrupting them. He did not speak again until the end of their story.

"The followers of Salphira? That doesn't sound good. I have heard that they make a bit of a mess from time to time in the City of Towers and that above all they like to annoy the queen. That doesn't please the people much."

- "Do you have any information about the jewel?"

- "Absolutely not. We knew it had been stolen, the queen was furious about it. As it's an important piece, we made quite an investigation to find it. But if we knew that it was the worshippers of Salphira who had it, we would have started by searching in the temple, that's clear!"

- "Which temple?"

- "The one in the City of Towers. But at the same time, it's right under the queen's sight, I'd be surprised if they had it there all this time..."

- "There's one thing I don't understand" intervened Mynthiao. "How is it that there is a temple dedicated to Salphira at the heart of the City of Towers? Does Queen Amarendra IV worship her?"

- "Absolutely not" assured Atashamin. "But the queen guarantees freedom of belief in any god except Kyrios, which is logical."

- "Kyrios?" asked Mynthiao, a little lost.

- "He is the God of Destruction, feared by all. Don't they teach you that at school?"

- "Education is very poor at Arcum Iris, you know" Satsu lamented. "You can only read and count, and the only goddess you've learned to love is Nui."

- "I see" sighed Atashamin. "Salphira is the Goddess of Fire and purification, and she's only a minor goddess, so one would never have thought that her followers could become a threat to the queen's safety..."

- "What do you mean by that? Atashamin, do you mean that the fact that they stole the Dragon Scale makes them dangerous?"

- "The Dragon Scale is not just a precious stone... in fact it is said that it contains ancient power and that it could give human form to a god, which could allow him to descend among the living... And Salphira, with her loss of popularity, I imagine she is rather angry. So, if the legend is true and Salphira's disciples manage to offer her a body, I will let you imagine the carnage that would ensue!"

The girls exchanged looks, perplexed. Atashamin didn't seem very pleased with their understanding of their own mission. He looked up at them.

"But how is it that you are looking for this stone without even knowing what it is? Who is supervising you?"

- "Baht."

- "Baht? Ah, yes. He's a Firran, isn't he? He hasn't been a member for very long and operates mostly near Falcorth. Normally Firrans are a good asset, as they're nomadic, they like to move around and are very mobile agents. But he doesn't want to move out of his little comfort zone, apparently... Anyway. So that explains why he doesn't know about the Dragon Scale. I don't know who put him in charge of the mission, but he should have been warned, if only for the danger the thieves represent, they are not simple thugs or simple monks. But where is he, Baht, anyway? If he is supervising you, why isn't he with you?"

- "He asked us to go ahead" Satsu explained. "He said he had to report the situation to his friend Eluis, another Shadowhawk but also secretary to Kezar, the mayor of the town where we found an illegal Salphira shrine."

- "That's where we thought the Scale was" Mynthiao continued. "But we were wrong, and apart from angry monks and a disgusting humanoid monster, there was absolutely nothing there."

- "A humanoid monster you say?" Atashamin continued. "Perhaps it was a failed attempt to resurrect Salphira... you were really lucky not to get killed, the three of you. It was foolish to give such a mission to three young recruits who were not aware of the risks."

Atashamin sighed before getting up.

"I'll leave you my tent for the rest of the night" he said, unfolding two large blankets. "You can sleep without worry, the camp is well guarded and there are no disciples of Salphira here. We will meet again tomorrow morning to discuss what you can do to complete your mission. Have a good night, try to get some rest."

He left the tent with these words and closed it. So the girls went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

***

As soon as she woke up, Mynthiao grunted. Someone was shaking her violently, and she had just bumped her head in a terracotta jar. When she opened her eyes, she saw in front of her a worried young man on the verge of panic.

"Wake up, wake the hell up!" he repeated. "Atashamin wants to see you both, he said it was of the utmost importance!"

The girls stretched before following the boy outside. It wasn't even daylight yet, but they must have arrived at the camp around three o'clock in the morning. They must not have slept more than two hours. Atashamin greeted them in the tent next door, a cold look on his face.

"Good morning, ladies. I wanted to inform you that Salphira's admirers were seen a few minutes ago, they were going north with a big box that seemed to be quite solid, the gem is most probably inside. I didn't intervene because this is your mission, and I know from experience that one doesn't especially appreciate having a quest stolen. So I advise you to head north, try to catch up with them. Luckily, at the speed at which they were progressing, I doubt they got very far, so it shouldn't take you long. I'm going to leave you with a few trinkets that might prove useful."

Atashamin gave each of them a mask and a small vial containing a cloudy liquid.

"I ask you to cover your faces. Enough monks from Salphira have seen you to put a price on your heads tonight. And this is a sleeping potion, a speciality of our alchemist here at the Poacher's Watch. You can break the vial next to the guards near the chest if there are any, it will save you from killing too many more people. Please be careful, and come back to report to me when you're done. I'll keep Baht informed."

Satsu and Mynthiao listened carefully to Atashamin's instructions, then put on their masks and took the sleeping potion with them. They then set off northwards into the jungle. They could already see a faint glow a little further on. After five minutes of walking, they saw a small camp below the slope on which they were standing. In the centre, the largest of the tents resembled the tents erected at the Poacher's Watch.

"I think I see the chest in the big one" Mynthiao whispered. "There are two guards in front of it, but I can't see if there are people inside...

- "We only have one sleeping potion" Satsu recalled. "Let's go to the back of the tent and use it if there are people inside."

Satsu went around the camp, hiding behind the embankment. Mynthiao followed her without a sound. They walked along the river to reach the back of the main tent. However, the girls were below the cliff that the tent was pitched on. The tent had been placed there on purpose to prevent intruders from entering from behind. This was going to be a more difficult task.

"Mynthiao, I'll help you up. Once you're up there, get under the tent canvas quickly. If there are people inside, quickly burst the vial on the ground and don't breathe. If you inhale the vapours, you will fall asleep too. Then you open the chest and take what is inside if you believe it to be the Dragon Scale, then you go out the back."

- "And what about you?"

- "I'll try to reach you but I'm not sure if I can climb up on my own. But I don't want you to wait for me, we'll have to do it quickly. As soon as you're at the top, take action. If I haven't gone up, I'll be here waiting."

Mynthiao nodded. Satsu pushed her up which enabled her to climb the small cliff. Once at the top, Mynthiao went under the tent without waiting, like her friend had told her to do. She came face to face with two monks.

"What the-"

The monk had no time to say more or to alert the guards, Mynthiao had just burst the vial on the ground, which took immediate effect. Fortunately, she had thought well by taking a deep breath of air before breaking it. She opened the chest and stood still for a moment: the box was empty. Except for a small piece of paper. She quickly read through the inscription whilst grabbing it, returning the way she just came from, coming face to face with Satsu who had stayed by the river.

"Do you have the Scale?" she asked her.

- "Unfortunately not" Mynthiao lamented. "This was the only thing in the chest."

Mynthiao gave the paper to Satsu, who in turn reads it.

"The Scale is hidden in the sanctuary?"

- "Apparently so. Do you think this sanctuary is the temple that Atashamin was talking about, in the City of Towers?"

- "It's quite possible... Let's go and show him this."

So the girls discreetly left, headed for the Poacher's Watch to report back to Atashamin. He waited for them with a firm foot and seemed relieved to see them return in one piece. The girls explained to him how they had done it and then gave him the note that Mynthiao had found in the trunk.

"Well, at least it wasn't a complete waste of time" he said, scratching his chin. "We know where the Dragon Scale is now. Damn it! If only we had known earlier... Go to the City of Towers, and give this note to the antique merchant in the Trade Plaza, to the east of the city. She's a Shadowhawk in disguise. With this kind of proof, she will be able to send a squad of Shadowhawks to retrieve the gem. Hurry up though... It's five forty five, you should arrive before seven so that you can act before eight, because that's when the first ceremony starts, it will be a real bloodbath by that point and above all it might be too late."